kamikaze
kah-mih-KAH-zee · noun
JapaneseEnglish
Origin
Borrowed from Japanese 神風 (kamikaze, "divine wind"), a compound of 神 (kami, "divine") and 風 (kaze, "wind").
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Journey
The term originally named the typhoon that wrecked the Mongol navy invading Japan in 1281, credited as an act of divine protection; it later came to describe the suicide pilots of World War II.
Related words
It stands as a direct borrowing rather than a word with English relatives.